Bruce Pearl thanks the fans and Aubie for his birthday cake on March 18, 2014. / Butch Dill, AP

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

Bruce Pearl made quite the splash when he returned to college basketball after a nearly three-year hiatus.

He returns to the Southeastern Conference, where he won more than 70% of his games as the head coach at Tennessee. NCAA violations there cost him his job in 2011 and earned him a three-year show-cause order that restricted his recruiting abilities, effectively blacklisting him from coaching jobs for the duration of the penalty.

Well, almost.

With five months remaining on the show-cause order, Auburn came calling. The Tigers wanted Pearl, restrictions and all. They'd work with him and their compliance department to make sure he toed the line. They'd give him his shot at redemption.

Pearl presents an interesting case study in regards to the show-cause order, because for most of the coaches who do return to coaching in college, they do so after the penalty has expired. Rarely do you see an athletic director hand out a second chance while the penalty is still in effect. Earlier this week, USA TODAY Sports examined the perception and reality of the NCAA's show-cause penalty, which is one of the most misunderstood penalties that the NCAA can hand out. Pearl lived it - and technically is still living it through August 23. He can't recruit until then, which means he's watching a lot of tape and watching his phone, making sure he avoids contact with coaches and prospects until the penalty is up.

Pearl's unique circumstances has made for an interesting transition back into college coaching, to say the least.

Q: You've only been away from coaching for a couple of years - which you spent on the media side and still around basketball - but what's changed? What's the best part about being back in coaching?

A: The best part has been being around the student-athletes, trying to get them to train, go to class, treat their bodies better, raise their level of expectations for themselves at Auburn - it's that. The interaction with my coaching staff. When you're involved in a team sport, you can't do it by yourself. All of the leadership instincts, training. Though there were times I could tap into that stuff, it's not like being a head coach. There are a lot of people now who are relying on me. There's a fan base, a university, a group of student-athletes, a group of assistant coaches and my family. They're now relying on me to make the right decisions and do a good job teaching and making a difference in the lives of student-athletes. That's the biggest difference. That's what I missed. When I roll over in the morning and it's 5 o'clock, I'm up and I'm loving it.

Q: Over the last three years, there were a lot of people who assumed your return to coaching would be inevitable. How often were you thinking about it, even if it was just in the back of your mind?

A: Because I was serving a show cause that was not up until August 24th, I really wasn't thinking about coaching this year. Therefore, I wasn't preparing to coach this year. What took place in March caught me by surprise, from a standpoint of I just did not know how I would be received or perceived. But (athletics director) Jay Jacobs and Auburn made sure I knew I was their first choice. They wanted me back in the SEC. Prior to that and because the NCAA told me I could not recruit until my show cause was up, you move forward when you're told you can't do something. I had to take care of my family. The options became NBA Developmental League with the Dallas Legends, the vice president of marketing job with H.T. Hackney Company, Sirius XM, ESPN. I chose those last three to basically take care of my family when I was away from coaching.

Q: You said you weren't expecting to coaching this year and weren't "preparing to coach this year." What do you mean by that?

A: I shouldn't have said I wasn't preparing. But what I might have been doing was I might have paid closer attention to recruiting or players. I might have done a little more clinic-ing. I might have had a little more interaction with high school coaches. I might have done stuff knowing in a year's time I'm going to come back. Let's say, this summer. Last summer, I (went) to Orlando, I went to the Peach Jam. I've been to a couple of events. But I just went out to them as part of the media. If I'd known I was going to be back in a year's time, I might have gone out as a member of the media but with an eye toward the future.

Q: I'm curious, too, your thoughts on transfers. I know you've been around them as a member of the media and it's only been a couple of years since you were a coach dealing with them directly, but it seems to have become a major issue and hot topic in the sport of college basketball in these last few years. I'm wondering if that's a different element of the game now.

A: It is. Look, when I transferred from Southern Indiana to Milwaukee and from Milwaukee to Tennessee, those are promotions. Transfers get a connotation universally. Sometimes, it's not bad. Sometimes, it can be really positive. I think it does enable programs, like ours, whose rosters are challenged initially (during a coaching change) to be able to potentially improve quickly. APR prevents that from taking place too fast. What I don't think I like about it is, if you look at my record, I can't think in 19 years of coaching, I can't think of more than five or six kids who transferred from me. I mean, we just didn't lose many guys. I didn't want to lose them. I didn't want to run them off. There's a difference between generations - young people still want discipline, they still want to be coached, they still want to be taught. But we do tend to want it right away. We want it now. I think that's actually led to the rash of transfers. â?¦ I had assistants for five, six years. Nine years. My staffs and my players historically sort of stuck.

Q: More continuity in general.

A: More continuity. Loyalty. Trust. Those things are going to be challenged more so today because of the nature of the business and if folks aren't successful right away, they tend to not be willing to pay their dues. (There) always seems to be those teams that have all seniors every year. How do those guys always have seniors? It's because they don't have a lot of attrition. Those (players) may not have the role they want as a freshman or sophomore, but they pay their dues. Let me tell you another reason that happens: They're recruited the right way. If you promise a guy the world to get him, and he doesn't get the world right away, he's out. He's gone. But if you recruit him the right way - where he'll have an opportunity to earn it and demonstrate to you over a period of time - then he's going to be a little more tolerant if his role isn't what he wants it would be.

Q: As you were certainly aware of - we all were - last year, there was a lot of talk about the SEC as a basketball league. It did get three teams into the Sweet 16 (and two into the Final Four) and I remember talking to a bunch of SEC coaches, like Georgia's Mark Fox, who insisted teams were improving late in the year, but the league was definitely fighting a perception battle all season, that it was weak. What needs to change for the SEC to improve and improve the way it's perceived?

A: A couple of things. First of all, at the end of the season in the Sweet 16, there were three SEC teams left: Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky. They were the biggest, strongest, fastest teams in the tournament remaining. Big, strong, fast - that's SEC football. When you look at those Tennessee, Florida, rosters, you tell me who was bigger, stronger and faster. It's hard to come up with others. So why are we apologizing for that? We should be bragging about that. Florida, although they had some injuries, they were good from the beginning. Kentucky and Tennessee got better throughout the season. They got better in the SEC. Georgia got better at the end of the year. So, what do we do about it? We've got to do a better job in November (during non-conference play). We've got to have better home-court advantages. I'm not going to get too specific with you, but in the south we start school in the middle of August. In many parts of the country, in the northeast, they start after Labor Day. Our students are gone early December and don't come back until middle of January. That's prime time for the non-conference basketball season. We don't have our students here in the southeast. ... As a result, it's a factor in not being able to have those big non-conference home wins. Our fans are on break and at bowl games. The last thing is this: The reason the Big East in its day was a great conference was because of the depth and breadth of the league. There were nine or 10 teams going (to the NCAA tournament). When Skip Prosser had Wake Forest going, when Gary Williams won a national championship in 2002 at Maryland, when N.C. State is a factor, when Leonard Hamilton's got his team going - when it's not just Duke and North Carolina - that's when the ACC was at its best. Depth and breadth. The problem with the SEC is Florida and Kentucky are the only teams that have been consistently nationally relevant. Until that changes, this league will always have a perception problem, an image problem. Whether it's Georgia or Tennessee or Missouri or Arkansas or Alabama or Auburn, whoever else it's going to be, there needs to be a couple of us that step up and be nationally relevant. Otherwise, the league is going to continue to get beat down.

Q: You've said, when talking about your perception of Auburn, that it wasn't a top five or six job in the SEC. But it had the resources and potential to be relevant. What attracted you to this job, this place?

A: They wanted this to be a story of redemption, rather than a story of sin. There is something about the Auburn family. You talk to Charles Barkley. You talk to Gene Chizik. Guz Malzahn. Even former guys - Tommy Tuberville - they'll tell you there's something special about this place, as far as the Auburn family. They haven't been to the NCAA tournament in 10 years. That was attractive to me. What statement can a coach make if he's able to take you to the tournament after not being there for 10 years? And one other thing I was thinking is Tubby Smith went to the NCAA tournament with Georgia and Kentucky. What other coach has taken two different teams in the SEC to the NCAA tournament? ... I don't (know if there is one). Could I join future Hall of Famer Tubby Smith and be one of a couple - there could be someone else I'm missing off-hand - to do that? That's pretty cool. And SEC basketball matters to me. I'm passionate about SEC basketball. I am. I was at Tennessee. Being back in the SEC made more sense to me. I'm an SEC guy.

Q: What does the roster that you've inherited look like? How are the players fitting into the system/style you want to run? How have the guys been?

A: I don't know how good we are. I do know they're putting forth the effort. I do know they're making progress, but we've got a long ways to go. ... We've got to get bigger, stronger, faster. And shoot better. Those are things you can do in the gym, on the football field, on the court. Those are things we can control - bigger, stronger, faster, shoot it better. That's what we have to do. While other coaches are out recruiting, I'm going to be able to be here with my players. Given the restrictions, I can still coach. I can still teach. I can still motivate. That's what I'll be doing.

Q: On the subject of restrictions and the show-cause penalty, what are the frustrating and toughest parts about not being able to recruit this summer?

A: It has been difficult because there have been several prospects who have told my assistants to tell me, 'I've got to make a decision about whether or not I'm going to play for Coach Pearl, and I can't even talk to him? I can't even meet him?' Yeah, you have to make that decision. My assistant coaches are delivering the message. It's still my message. I'm still involved. For example, I'm watching film now of prospects I can't see live. I can tell my coaches what I see. I can tell my coaches where I project them, what they need to work on, where they'll fit. They're going to be the ones delivering the message. The biggest challenge is not going to be recruiting. It'll be two things. One, evaluating - because we've got to make some decisions, and I won't be able to personally see these guys. And the second thing is during the recruiting process, I'm already starting to coach them, to challenge them. I'm already starting to get a read on what buttons to press. If you recruit them the right way, you've got a chance to do a better job of coaching them effectively. I don't know what their insecurities are. I don't know what their passions or interests are. ... There's a chance when it's all said and done we will have improved our roster.

Q: When you're able to interact with recruits again come August, do you anticipate questions about the show-cause and your time at Tennessee? How do you address those challenging topics?

A: The biggest challenge is I think there are still high school coaches that are waiting for me to call them, and thinking, 'Bruce Pearl's been on the job two months and hasn't called me.' When I was receiving text messages and calls from friends in coaching that have got players, I had to give them to one of my assistants. I couldn't even return the call. It's frustrating. â?¦ I can't be at team camp. I can't meet high school coaches in south Georgia and the state of Alabama and the panhandle. I can't even be here at camp. I'll be off-campus because we'll have high schoolers here. I've had to change camp to the point where it's only K-6th grade. I can't have seventh or eighth graders at camp because they're considered prospects. I won't have camp unless I can be here. So we're going to coach young kids. Those are the kinds of the things we've had to do to deal with the show cause. ... I think that prospects know what I did. They know the penalty I've paid. ...

Here's the thing: It's like an eligibility issue. I had to sit out three years. I wasn't eligible. Kelvin wasn't eligible. Once we became eligible and sat out whatever was required of us by NCAA rule, we were back. In Kelvin's case, he's back in good standing. In my case, I will be back in good standing on August 24, God willing, when my penalty is complete.